Toilet Seat Up

I went to a women's club luncheon today.   The reason I went was to hear a husband wife team talk about their  genealogy research.  

The husband and I were the only men present.    After we ate, I went to restroom after the husband had went and returned.   He left the  toilet seat up.  It has to be him.   At a women's club meeting I don't think  any male there should leave the toilet seat  up.  It is just plain courtesy. 

Happy National Peculiar People Day!

Peculiar is a polite way of saying someone is Eccentric, Strange, Odd, Weird, or Hat-Not-On-Straight.  You might be laughing at (not with) them today, but tomorrow using whatever they thought of.   Cherish them, not smirk at them.

The Over-the-Hill Gang in the Waiting Room

Today in a waiting room at the Wellstar Hospital complex THE VIEW came on TV.  The View ladies started out talking about gun control and the Newtown shooting.

There were other men and one woman in the room.  We are all retirement age and we all have gray hair.  The below are actual quotes of the three strangers interacting.

One of the men said those stupid women did not know what they were talking about and neither probably ever even touched a gun.  He said "us Southern Boys" grew up loving guns and playing cowboys and indians.

One said he had news for those crazy women on TV, guns don't kill people, people do.

The other two agreed.  One said he never seen a gun walk up to somebody and bend over and shoot them.  They all agreed. 

One said the wise thing to do was to buy two guns.  One legal one and one illegal one.  Then, when "they" come to pick up the guns give them the legal one and they won't know any better.  They all chuckled over that.

One said every American should join the NRA.  The NRA is number one in protecting Americans' rights.  Show them support.  And besides, one added, they have a good magazine you will get with your membership, and they know some PREEE-TY important people.

Then the talk drifted to know your gun and how to use it, you may have to use it someday.  And, have a healthy fear of it.

One of the men said he has a healthy fear because he knew what a gun can do in the hands of someone that didn't know what they were doing.  He said, "My brother was shot by our father's gun.  He got it out playing with it when it went off."

Huh? 

I Have Seen the Enemy, It Is Us

Thoughts on Standing Your Ground and Feeling Threatened

George Zimmerman said he shot and killed Trayvon Martin in self-defense under Florida's Stand Your Ground Law, in so many words say that you can kill someone you feel threatened by.

Trayvon wore a hood.  Was that a threat?  The only one that had a gun was the person that said he was threatened.  That is confusing.

It has been made public that Trayvon smoked pot and did poorly in school.  Was that good enough reason to shoot him?  Well, no, but even if it was, George wouldn't have know about that.  So, why do we the public know about it?  Maybe to slant public opinion to think George Zimmerman was actually doing a public service by getting rid of Tryvon.

If that is the case they need to put a few admendments on the Stand Your Ground Law pointing out that it is OK to shoot to kill pot smokers and people that do poorly in school.

Now some guy has used the same type of law in South Carolina, I beleive it was, to shoot into a car with three teenagers playng loud music, killing one.  He said he was threatened because he "thought" one had gun.

On the other hand, it might have been nice if that law was in effect in Georgia when I was in the 4th grade.  I was most defintely felt threatened by my teacher Miss Poole back then.  POW!

On the other hand, if Georgia did have the Stand Your Ground Law back then you might not have had the pleasure of listening to Billy Joe Royal sing "Down in the Boondocks".  Back when we were young in the Clay Homes sitting out in dark Billy Joe Royal, his brother Jack, somebody else I forgot, and I used to sit in the dark and tell jokes and carry one like preteens do.  A certain nervous old man named Mr. Caudell lived close by and it really bothered him for us to do that.  It was dark and we were in the dark, he could hear us but not see us.  He would come out with his cigarette's red front shaking, telling us to keep it down or go inside.  This happened almost every night we sat out there.  I'm sure that was very threatening to him.  POW!  POW! POW!  Problem solved.

Chickens and Sacred Cows (and pigs)

I have been eating boneless chicken breasts ever since they were invented at the Dwarf House in Hapeville, I suppose.  I also love backwoods off the beaten path good barbecue, and hotdogs with a bite.

I have never thought about asking them what their political and religious beliefs are.   For one thing it is none of my business and another thing I don't see what difference it makes in the taste.  If  you like their product, then buy it, if you want, or don't if you don't want to.   It is a free  country.

Which reminds me there is also the right of Free Speech, which is sometimes costly anyway.

I would like to also throw in: Lifestyles are sacred, lets honor them - it helps with the "Pursuit of happiness" thing.

Opinions and beliefs are just like anuses, everybody has one.

New Word (to me): GENTRIFICATION

While watching HARRY I was introduced to a new word:  GENTRIFICATION. 

I looked up GENTRIFICATION on Wikipedia and read this:

"Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people ("gentry") acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities.^[1] Urban gentrification is associated with migration within a population. In a community undergoing gentrification, the average income increases and average family size decreases. It is commonly believed that this results in the displacement of the poorer, pre-gentrification residents, who are unable to pay increased rents or house prices and property taxes. Often old industrial buildings are converted to residences and shops. In addition, new businesses, catering to a more affluent base of consumers, move in, further increasing the appeal to more affluent migrants and decreasing the accessibility to the poor."

Now I know why The Clay Homes Low Income Projects, where I spent my first seven years, and my old paperroute neighorhood has been bulldozed away.  The rich rule!

It also explains the Indian Removal (TRAIL OF TEARS) in 1838. 

It also looks unconstitutional to me.  Pretty soon it will be illegal to be poor, or have a low-income.

Anna's Chickens by Monty Calhoun

(To read well, click twice on the message)

No Hanging Today Folks

The law of the land says that one is innocent until proven guilty. And also there is something that says the prosecutor must prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the accused, or defendant, is guilty of the crime charged.

You may feel you know Casey Anthony killed her daughter but the prosecutor did not have enough hard evidence to prove beyond a shadow of doubt.

The “Beyond a Shadow of Doubt” thing was designed to protect the innocent. You don’t want innocent defendants wrongly convicted and suffer the punishment doled out.

And the lawyer’s job is to defend his client as well as he can. That is what he was sworn to do. So, you can’t blame him when he uses the “Beyond a shadow of doubt” card – which is almost a sure win-win situation – a good lawyer can apply the right pressure to brain in the right way and walla! Shadow of doubt! This case must have been a cake walk, with a habitual liar with a dysfunctional family.

No Lynching Today.


Casey Mourning

What a Deal!

Lets see if I got this right. Governor Nathan Deal suggested that the farm illegal immigrants, who want to work, are to be replaced by parolees who, by in large, have gotten themselves into trouble for trying to get out of work?

Farm production figures should be interesting this year. I bet prices go up.

Speaking of Banned Books*

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee was banned from the Advanced Placement English courses in Lindale, Texas, in 1996. The reason cited was that “it conflicted with the values of the community”.**

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD has been called a “powerful antiracism novel”. So the values of the Lindale community are different from the values in the book eh? Tch tch.

*Yesterday’s SUNDAY FUNNIES post.

** UNCLE JOHN'S UNSINKDABLE BATHROOM READER, p211

GOBAG - 2 Mindset views

The above is probably how we see ourselves at our Good Old Boys & Girls (GOBAG) meetings.

Below is probably how our spouses and off-springs see us.

Do More!

Marietta has a very interesting history timeline.

Marietta materialized about 1833.

The inhabitants of Marietta witnessed and could not escape the terrible harms of the Civil War. The North and South had a major battle just about two miles away on Kennesaw Mountain, and other spots in or near Marietta such as Cheatham Hill and Kolb’s Farm.

Marietta also had a role in the well known Great Locomotive Chase. James Andrews’ Raiders stole The General Train engine and it was an inspiration for books and movies for years to come.

Marietta citizens built trains at Glover Machine Works that served the war effort and also airplanes at the Bell Bomber Plant (later to be named Lockheed).

We had a dark side too. The men folk, in 1913, thought they were doing the right thing by hanging, unlawfully, Leo Frank, who was in prison for the murder of Mary Phagan.

The above and much more are on display at The Marietta Museum of History. It all has been studied, research, and analyzed by Dan Cox and his very able staff members and volunteers. It is all there waiting to educate you about your city.

Speaking of education I have been there several times when a hoard of school kids and their teachers came in. I think, if it was me, I would grab everything breakable and valuable and move them out of sight quickly. But not them. I have noticed the delighted expressions of the staff members when they heard the roar of the kids coming up the elevator. Good for them.

I think the Marietta City Council member(s) who grumbled about the museum’s expense said they thought the museum personnel were not doing enough should drag their expertise ass(es) to the museum and volunteer to show them how to do it.

Music to Look at Posts by

I don't like criticizing other blogs. It is kind of like "those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks". So, I won't (live in a glass house).

I saw a link to a blog I thought might be interesting so I went to it and it had a nice visual layout and looked like it had an interesting essay to tell.

HOWEVER!!! You had to listen to Willie Nelson sing while you tried to read. It is hard for me to do. Willie Nelson is a fine singer and I enjoy his music but trying to listen and read at the same time is distracting.

They both deserve to be appreciated - but you can't do both at the same time, or at least I can't. It confuses my brain, like trying to pat the top of your head and rub your belly in circular motion at the same time.

Or that is my 2 cents worth anyway.

Life Just An't Fair

Senator Joseph McCarthy Died this Date

On this date in 1957 commie hunting Senator Joseph McCarthy died at age 47. He and his House of UnAmerican Activities got too powerful. They ruined many creatives careers in the movie industry, Dalton Trumbo comes to mind. If you had liberal ideas and exercised your freedom of speech you had to be a communist in their eyes and they threw false accusations at you. And then you would be on the infamous Blacklist and nobody would hire you.

Finally the people said, "Enough is enough!" and the holier-than-thou senator was defizzled.

Super Bowl Saturday? Or How to get Promoted

Super Bowl Saturday?

The other day on TV on the Martha Stewart Show it was all about the Super Bowl. They were talking Super Bowl trivia and one of the guests was Matt Lauer. He said that based on the past history, one and half million people well call in sick the Monday after the Super Bowl.

Martha said she wished President Obama would do what he could to change The Super bowl to be on Saturday, then millions of dollars of man hours would be saved.

That is a thought.

But I was wondering, because the economy is so bad right now, will the million and half be a right prediction? Of that huge number a big chunk probably have already been laid off… and some, worried that their superiors are looking for an excuse to lay some off, might show up Monday with their hangovers and indigestions of too much finger foods.

It reminds me of a time the Super Bowl was to be played in New Orleans. At the Atlanta Post Office, based on history, a huge number or mail clerks and mail-handlers, was predicted to call in sick for the time of Super Bowl. The Atlanta Post Office works around the clock seven days a week.

Upper management asked one of my timekeeper co-workers to go to the Super Bowl at their expense and take names of Atlanta postal workers at the game, and when he got back they would bump his list against the list of people who called in. Lets call him Dricks.

Dricks wanted to see the Super Bowl as much as most people. He took them up and went and took names. It was no time until Dricks was promoted to our supervisor, and then a another short time until he was head of our time keeper and data collection department.

I know it isn't right for the people to call in sick to go to the Super Bowl, but I do not think it is right for a planted spy to gather information against the same pay-rate co-workers, unless is is a life or death situation, or something more serious. Of course, that is just my wild lowly blue-collar opinion.

Past and Future Presidents

The other day I heard on the news that in Atlanta at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library somebody broke in and stole Jimmy’s and Rosalynn’s bikes. It was interesting because the thieves had to get by very high secret service security to get those bikes.

There is a story behind the bikes also. A local bike dealer said a secret service man brought Jimmy’s and Rosalynn’s bikes in to be repaired or tuned up, or whatever. The owner said both bikes were in bad shape so he said he just gave the couple two new bikes and I think I heard in the news jabber that they cost over $1000 each. Now, he said he is trying to find a way to give them two new bikes to replace those.

Why?

I admire Jimmy Carter as much as anybody for all he has done for World Peace and Habitat For Humanity and all other things he has done for humanity. But, he gets a good retirement plus he has had several best sellers… I’m sure they are loaded and can afford their own bicycles.

_____________________________________________________________________________


Also I heard on the news that Obama will have to give up emailing while President. It was mentioned that George Bush had to also. Presidents just don’t email. They listed a bunch of practical reasons, and I don’t remember a one of them.

But it got me wondering what is/was President-Elect Obama’s email address?

Obama4@gmail.com?

44thprez@aol.com?

Balls 2

Outspoken Sign at Mulligans, in Marietta, that is, well, outspoken.... the tee-shirts that owner Mike Norman was selling there caused an uproar too.

The Last Word

When you have a disagreement with somebody does it really matter who has the last word?

If you are Hell-bent on getting in the last word does that make you right? I think both you and your adversary are going to walk away with the same feelings you two had before the argument began, regardless of who was right and/or aggressive enough to get the last word in.

So, there!